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The "ultimate career talk" brings the world's top scientists to explain their discoveries to Toronto's brightest high school science students

TORONTO, Oct. 16 /CNW/ -
- Gairdner Awardees from the U.S. and Canada lecture to 750 Toronto
students on "a life in science"
- The Gairdner High School Lectures, now in their 8th year, expand from
Toronto across Canada
- At the University of Toronto: Friday October 24th, at 9:30 am at the
Hart House Theatre.
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Speakers: Dr. Alan Bernstein, Executive Director,
Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise, New York, will speak on "The story of
HIV/AIDS: How can we stop the world's worst virus?" and Dr. Samuel
Weiss, Professor of Cell Biology &amp; Anatomy and Pharmacology &amp;
Therapeutics, University of Calgary, will speak on "The Stem cells you
have in your brain: what can they do?"
- At York University: Wednesday October 22nd at 10 am at the Tribute
Concert Hall in the Accolade East Building.
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Speakers: Dr. Alan Bernstein, Executive Director, Global HIV Vaccine
Enterprise, New York, will speak on "Sex, Drugs and HIV/AIDS: The
Science of a Pandemic" and Dr. Nahum Sonenberg, Professor, Department
of Biochemistry and McGill Cancer Centre, McGill University, will
speak on "Regulation of Protein Synthesis: From Basic Discoveries to
Medical Applications".
The idea of putting the world's top medical researchers in front of high
school students to explain their discoveries and their career choices, came
from Dr. John Dirks, the president of the Gairdner Foundation and the Gairdner
International Awards for Medical Research.
The Gairdners (www.gairdner.org), founded by the late Toronto
businessman, James Gairdner, are now in their 49th year. They have grown to be
one of the most prestigious awards in all of science, recognizing outstanding
contributions by medical scientists worldwide whose work will significantly
improve the quality of life. Of the 289 Gairdner awardees, 73 have gone on to
win the Nobel Prize.
Said Dr. Dirks: "Back in 2000, few science students thought about
pursuing a career in research, let alone medical research. So I wondered what
would happen if one or two of the world's most renowned scientists could talk
to these students about their discoveries and why they became scientists."
From that impulse, Dr. Dirks asked the University of Toronto to put out
the word to high school principals and science department heads to invite
their best students from across Toronto to an hour-long lecture by a recent
Gairdner Awardee at Hart House. The result was a packed house, a rapt audience
and an annual Gairdner tradition.
The 2008 Gairdner High School Lectures will expand to two Toronto venues,
the U of T and York University, as well as to other venues across Canada.
Media wishing to attend a High School Lecture or interview one of the
Gairdner Lecturers should contact Bob Ramsay at 4l6 598 3970,
bob@ramsayinc.com.
The expansion of the Gairdner High School Lectures is supported by a
grant from the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation.
Since 2003, the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR) has been
the national sponsor of the Gairdner Awards. CIHR is the major federal agency
responsible for funding health research in Canada, supporting the work of
10,000 researchers in universities, teaching hospitals and research institutes
across Canada. The results are improved health for Canadians, more effective
health services and products, and a strengthened Canadian health care system.

For further information:

For further information: Bob Ramsay, (4l6) 598-3970, or
bob@ramsayinc.com